Local SEO includes several specific tasks geared to establishing the relevance and authority of a business within a targeted geographic area.

Search engines and large language models (LLMs) like Google Gemini and ChatGPT reference many different data points to determine who will be surfaced in their respective result sets, which include AI Overviews and AI Mode in Google, featured snippets, local map packs, image or video carousels, and other emerging search formats.

So, how can you identify and prioritize optimizations with the greatest potential to deliver converting traffic to your website or your business door from traditional organic local SEO or AI search?

Below, we’ll walk through an evaluation of each key facet of your local search presence and uncover your best opportunities to improve your visibility in traditional organic and AI search.

These tasks are listed in typical order of completion during a full audit, but some can be accomplished concurrently.

1. Keyword Topic/AI Prompt Audit

Although the introduction of AI in search has changed the keyword-first strategy, the natural place to start a local SEO audit is in organic and AI search results. Start with the topical keywords, phrases, and AI prompts you are hoping your business will be found for, in order to identify where you are positioned relative to your competitors and other websites/content.

This research can help you quickly identify where you have established some level of authority/momentum to build on, as well as topics upon which you should not waste your time and effort.

SEO is a long-term strategy, so no keyword or prompt should be summarily dismissed. Even so, it’s generally best to focus on keyword topics you realistically have a chance to gain visibility and drive traffic for. Pay close attention to the intent behind the keywords you choose and ideally focus on those with commercial or transactional intent, as informational content search results are largely being dominated by AI summaries.

You will also need to consider optimizing for conversational search queries or prompts and voice search, as AI Mode will increasingly rely on natural language processing.

Further, some younger users have developed different searching behaviors altogether and are using social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok for local searches. Search optimization for these platforms is a different conversation, but having an eye on how your business and its products/services are found when searching here can provide insight into how searches are conducted in more traditional and emerging AI formats.

Different people search in different ways, and it’s important not to limit your research to single keywords, but rather account for the various ways and phrases your audience may use to try to find you or your offerings; hence, taking a topical approach. This only becomes amplified in AI search, where every prompt is the beginning of a potentially long, drawn-out chat.

2. Website Audit

You can now conduct full content and technical website audits to ensure your site is optimized for maximum crawlability, indexability, and visibility by search engine and LLM crawlers. A typical audit is designed to analyze the underlying structure, content, and overall site experience.

Here again, there are many site auditing tools to crawl a website and then identify issues and prioritize actions to be taken based on SEO best practices.

A website audit and optimization can be broken down into a few buckets:

Page Optimization

Webpage optimization is all about ensuring pages are well structured, focused around targeted topical keywords, and provide a positive user experience.

As a search engine crawls a webpage, it looks for signals to determine what the page is about and what questions it can answer. These crawlers analyze the entire page to determine its focus, but specifically focus on page titles and headings as primary descriptors. A well-structured page with a hierarchical heading structure is key to helping site visitors, search engine and LLM bots easily scan and consume your content.

Ideally, each webpage is keyword topic-focused and unique. As such, keyword variations should be used consistently in titles, URLs, headings, and body content.

Another important potential issue raised in an audit, depending on the nature of your local business, is image optimization. As a best practice, all images should include relevant descriptive filenames and alt text, which may include pertinent keywords. This becomes particularly important when images (e.g., product or service photos) are central to your business, as image carousels can and will show up in web search results. In every case, attention should be paid to the images appearing on your primary ranking pages.

Lastly, an over-reliance on JavaScript can be particularly detrimental for LLM visibility, as some LLMs currently do not execute JavaScript. If your site is powered by JavaScript, you’ll want to address this with your developer to see how the most important content can be presented in raw HTML or via server-side scripting to enable crawling and indexing.

Internal Link Audit

A link audit will help you quickly identify any potential misdirected or broken links, which can create a less-than-optimal experience for your site visitors and may confuse search engine and LLM bots.

Links are likewise signals the search engines use to determine the structure of a website and its ability to direct searchers to appropriate, authoritative answers to their questions.

Part of this audit should include the identification of opportunities to crosslink prominent pages. If a page within your site has keywords (anchor text) referencing relevant content on another page, a link should be created, provided the link logically guides users to more relevant content or an appropriate conversion point.

External links should also be considered, especially when there is an opportunity to link to an authoritative source of information. From a local business perspective, this may include linking to relevant local organizations, partners, or events.

Schema Review

Schema or structured data can help search engines and LLMs better understand your business and its offerings and offer enhanced visibility. An effective local SEO audit should include the identification of content within a website to which schema can be applied.

Local businesses have an opportunity to have their content highlighted if they:

• Publish highly authoritative and relevant content.
• Use structured schema markup to tag content.

Relevant local business schema markup includes LocalBusiness, Product, Service, Review, and FAQPage, among others. All schema markup code should be validated via Google’s Rich Results Test and/or the Schema.org validator.

Mobile Audit

As most consumers search via their mobile devices – especially for local services – it’s essential for local businesses to provide a positive mobile web experience. Websites need to load quickly, be easily navigated, and enable seamless user interaction.

Google offers a range of free mobile testing and mobile-specific monitoring tools, such as Page Experience and Core Web Vitals, in Google Search Console.

More in-depth user experience and SEO analysis can be done via Google Lighthouse, though a local business owner will likely want to enlist the help of a web developer to action any of the recommendations this tool provides.

Duplicate Content

High-quality, authoritative content is, by definition, original content.

As such, it’s important to let Google know if your website contains any content/pages you did not create by adding a canonical tag to the HTML header of the page. Most pages, which are unique unto themselves, will have a self-referencing canonical.

Not doing so can have a detrimental effect on your authority and, by extension, your ability to rank. Most site auditing tools will flag content missing or having malformed canonical tags.

3. Google Business Profile Audit

A Google Business Profile (GBP) effectively represents a “secondary” website and highly visible point of presence for most local businesses. Increasingly, this “secondary” website is becoming the consumers’ first point of contact.

An accurate, comprehensive GBP is critical to establishing visibility in organic and now AI search results.

A recent behavioral study of travel booking in AI Mode conducted by Propellic found GBP to be among the most highly displayed and engaged content for searchers booking local accommodations and experiences.

A Google Business Profile audit should focus on the accuracy and completeness of the various components within the profile, including:

• Business information and location details.
• Correct primary business category.
• Hours of operation.
• Correct pin location in Google Maps.
• Proper categorization as a physical location or service area business.
• Products.
• Services.
• Appointment link(s), if applicable.
• Photos or Videos.
• Social Profiles.
• Offers.
• Regular updates.
• Events.
• Informational content.

Screenshot from Google Business Profile, September 2025

The more complete the profile is, the more likely it will be viewed as a reliable local resource and be given appropriate billing in the search results.

Assuming you have claimed and are authorized to manage your GBP, you can access and edit your info directly within the search results.

4. Review Monitoring And Management

Another very important aspect of a GBP is reviews.

Local business customers have an opportunity to write reviews, which appear on the GBP for other customers to reference and play a significant role in determining visibility in the local map pack. They are most certainly a determining factor with regard to appearing in Google AI Overviews.

Google will notify business owners as soon as reviews are submitted, and they should be responded to as soon as possible. This goes for negative reviews just as much as positive ones. Include an analysis of your reviews to ensure none have fallen through the cracks. This will also help determine whether there are recurring customer service and satisfaction issues or themes to be addressed. A detailed analysis of reviews can be a great source of content ideas aimed at answering customers’ most pressing questions or concerns.

Of course, there are also several other places for consumers to submit reviews, including Facebook, local review sites like Yelp, and industry-specific sites such as TripAdvisor and Houzz. A full audit should take inventory of reviews left on any of these services, as they can show up in search results.

Pro tip: Request positive reviews from all customers and politely suggest they reference the product or service they are reviewing, as keywords contained in reviews can have apositive effect from ranking perspective.

5. Local Business Listing/Citation Audit

Local business listings and citations provide search engines and LLM bots with a way of confirming a business is both local and reputable within a specific geographic region. Recent studies have revealed unlinked brand mentions and citations play a significant role in AI Visibility.

It is important to have a presence in reputable local directories, review sites, business directories (e.g., Chambers of Commerce), or local partner sites to prove your “localness.”

Depending on the size and scope of your local business, an audit of your listings and citations can be done in an automated or manual fashion.

Business listings and citation management tools can be used to find, monitor, and update all primary citations with your proper Name, Address, Phone Number (aka NAP), and other pertinent business details found in broader listings (e.g., website address, business description).

If you manage a limited number of locations and have the time, one quick method of identifying where your current listings can be found is to simply conduct a search on your business name. The first three to four pages of search results should reveal the same.

It’s also important to find and resolve any duplicate listings to prevent confusing customers and search engines alike with outdated, inaccurate information.

Local business owners and managers should also monitor Reddit for their brand and local product/service offerings to gauge activity and sentiment. Reddit is a unique platform where“karma” and trust are tantamount, but there is an opportunity for brands and local businesses to engage with their customers if they do it in a transparent, authentic, and non-promotional way.

6. Backlink Audit

Backlinks or inbound links are similar to citations, but are effectively any links to your website pages from other third-party websites.

Links remain an important factor in determining the authority of a website, as they lend validity if they come from relevant, reputable sources.

As with other components of an audit, there are several good free and paid backlink tools available, including a link monitoring service in Google Search Console, which is a great place to start.

An effective backlink audit has the dual purpose of identifying and building links via potentially valuable backlink sources, which can positively affect your ranking and visibility.

For local businesses, reputable local sources of links are naturally beneficial in validating location, as noted with citations above.

Potential backlink sources can be researched in a variety of locations:

• Free and paid backlink research tools, such as Ahrefs or Semrush identify any domains where your primary competition has acquired backlinks, but you have not.
• Any non-competitive sites appearing in the organic search results for your primary keywords are, by definition, good potential backlink sources. Look for directories you can be listed in, blogs or articles you can comment on, or publications you can submit articles to.
• Referral sources in Google Analytics may reveal relevant external websites where you already have links and may be able to acquire more.

7. Local Content Audit

People search differently and require different types of information depending on where they are in their buying journey. A well-structured local web presence will include content tailored and distributed for consumption during each stage of this journey, to bolster visibility and awareness.

You want to be found throughout your customer’s search experience. A content audit can be used to make sure you have helpful content for each of the journey buckets your audience members may find themselves in.

Informational content may be distributed via social or other external channels or published on your website to help educate your consumers on the products, services, and differentiators you offer at the beginning of their path to purchase.

As AI is consuming and repurposing much of this informational content, it’s important to ensure your informational content includes your unique perspective based on your experience and expertise. This content ideally answers your prospects’ why, how, and what types of questions.

Transactional content is designed to address those consumers who already know what they want, but are in the process of deciding where or who to purchase from. This type of content may include reviews, testimonials, or competitive comparisons.

Navigational content ensures when people click through from Google after having searched your brand name or a variation thereof, they land on a page or information validating your position as a leader in your space. This page should also include a clear call-to-action with the assumption they have arrived with a specific goal in mind.

Commercial content addresses those consumers who have signaled a strong intent to buy. Effective local business sites and social pages must include offers, coupons, discounts, and clear paths to purchase.

Optimizing Content For AI

From an AI search and visibility perspective, keep in mind the vast majority of AI results are responses to long-form questions/prompts from consumers. As such, it is crucial for some of your content to be in a direct question/answer format.

One quick and effective tactic is the creation of an FAQ section within product or service pages. However, avoid overseeding FAQs by including generic questions and answers. FAQs should be specific to the pages they reside on.

We’ve previously touched upon the importance of structured content for improved crawling, scanning, and comprehension. When reviewing your content, look for opportunities to incorporate defined heading structures, tables of contents for long-form content, and ordered lists.

Content Variety And Distribution

Quality content is content your audience wants to consume, like, and share. For many businesses, this means considering and experimenting with content beyond simple text and images.

Video content shared via platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and others is easier to consume and generally more engaging.

8. Google Search Console Review

Google Search Console is an invaluable free resource for data related to keyword and content performance, indexing, schema/rich results validation, mobile/desktop experience monitoring, and security/manual actions.

A complete local SEO audit must include a review and analysis of this data to identify and react to strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats outlined in each section.

Google Search Console screenshot, September 2025

Website owners and managers will want to pay particular attention to any issues related to pages not being crawled/indexed or manual actions having been taken based on questionable practices, as both can have a detrimental effect on search engine visibility.

Google Search Console does send notifications for these types of issues as well as regular performance updates, but an audit will ensure nothing has been overlooked.

9. Analytics Review

Whether you are using Google Analytics or another site/visitor tracking solution, the data available here is useful during an audit to validate top and lesser-performing content, traffic sources, audience profiles, and paths to purchase.

Findings in analytics will be key to your content audit.

As you review your site analytics, you may ask the following questions:

• Are my top-visited pages also my top-ranking pages in search engines?
• Which are my top entry pages from organic and AI search?
• Which LLMs are sending traffic to my site?
• Which pages/content are not receiving the level of traffic or engagement desired?
• What is the typical path to purchase on my site, and can it be condensed or otherwise optimized?
• Which domains are my top referrers, and are there opportunities to further leverage these sites for backlinks? (see Backlink Audit above).

Use Google Analytics (or another tool of your choice) to find the answers to these questions, so you can focus and prioritize your content and keyword optimization efforts.

10. Competitor Analysis

A comprehensive local SEO audit should identify and review the strengths and weaknesses of your competition.

You may already have a good sense of who your competition is, but to begin, it’s always a good idea to confirm who specifically shows up in the organic search and AI results when you enter your target keywords. You may find different competitors in these two formats, which represent both a threat and an opportunity.

These businesses/domains are your true online competitors and the sites you can learn the most from. If any of your online competitors’ sites and/or pages are ranking ahead of yours, you’ll want to review what they may be doing to gain this advantage.

You can follow the same checklist of steps you would conduct for your own audit to identify how they may be optimizing their keywords, content, Google Business Profile, reviews, local business listings, or backlinks.

In general, the best way to outperform your competition is to provide a better overall experience online and off, which includes generating more relevant, unique, high-quality content to more fully address the questions your mutual customers have.

11. AI Search For Local Businesses

AI Overviews and AI Mode are increasingly superseding traditional organic search results in Google, as the search engine aims to provide the answers to questions directly within its SERPs. Further, Google has signalled its commitment to AI Mode by recently integrating it into the Chrome address bar.

While AI search optimization has some new considerations, a strong foundation in traditional SEO will go a long way to building visibility in AI search results; chief among these at a local level is a fully optimized Google Business Profile, which appears prominently for local searches with commercial intent as outlined above.

Screenshot of Google AI Mode displaying Google Business Profile Cards, September 2025

AI Mode Strategy Checklist Should Consider:

• Enhanced GBP Features: Stay updated on new features within Google Business Profile, allowing for direct interactions or transactions, as these will be favored by AI Mode.
• Focus on User Intent: Understand the transactional and informational intent behind local searches. AI Mode aims to provide immediate solutions, so businesses facilitating this will gain an advantage.
• Voice Search Optimization: As AI Mode becomes more conversational, optimizing for natural language queries and voice search will be crucial. Ensure your content answers questions directly and uses conversational language.
• Direct Action Integrations: This may still be a ways away, but review and explore opportunities to integrate with Google’s booking or reservation features, if applicable to your business. This could become a direct pathway to conversions within AI Mode.

Prioritizing Your Action Items

A complete local SEO audit is going to produce a fairly significant list of action items.

Many of the keyword, site, content, and backlink auditing tools do a good job of prioritizing tasks; however, the list can still be daunting.

One of the best places to start with an audit action plan is around the keywords, AI prompts, and content you have already established some, but not enough, authority for.

Determine how to best address deficiencies or opportunities to optimize this content first before moving on to more competitive keywords or those you have less or no visibility for. Establishing authority and trust is a long-term game.

These audit items should be reviewed every six to 12 months, depending on the size and scale of your web presence, to enable the best chance of being found by your local target audience.

More Resources:

• Mastering Local SEO: A Strategic Imperative For Travel And Tourism Operators
• Local SEO For Non-Physical Businesses: Overcoming The Challenges
• Local SEO: The Definitive Guide to Improve Your Local Search Rankings

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